New app enhances home care
Business. United Methodist Communities is now utilizing Synzi software to revolutionize home health care. The app allows health care workers to check in with patients more often, and enables patients to already get to know their visiting helpers before they arrive at the patient's home.
By Mandy Coriston
United Methodist Communities (UMC), the private health provider which many may recognize as the agency which runs the Bristol Glen facility on Rt. 206, is changing the way their HomeWorks division is able to connect with homebound clients statewide. A software application, developed by healthcare technology company Synzi, allows for HIPAA-compliant, secure communications between client, staff, direct caregivers, and family, on up to six devices per patient.
Deborah Walsh, executive director of UMC’s HomeWorks division said the benefits of using the virtual care application are multi-faceted, and she’s thrilled to be one of the first private health care providers in the nation to be utilizing the technology.
“This app is a solution like nothing we’ve ever seen for in-home care,” Walsh said, “Legally, we have to call every client once every 30 days and visit once every 60, but this allows us to be present with them much more frequently.”
Explaining that the application can be installed on any smartphone, tablet, or laptop computer, Walsh said it’s rapidly become a touchstone for anything from care instructions and virtual training between aides in the field and nurses in the office, a way for clients and their families to make real-time care decisions and meet with staff, and streamlines interactions between all parties. Walsh also emphasized that the application gives the agency the ability to allow families a way to ‘virtually’ interview any aides they may be sending into a loved one’s home, which can be reassuring when they live at a distance, and gives live-in care givers an extra set of eyes in the home at the touch of a button.
“Virtual visits save trips and provide comfort to families that their loved ones are receiving the best care possible,” Walsh said, “It makes communication and documentation easier, allowing us to make quick adjustments to our clients’ care plans.”
UMC HomeWorks has three offices throughout the state, and will soon be opening a fourth office in Sparta. The agency has the application deployed in 15 homes and hopes to add more as they become more comfortable with the platform. Walsh, herself an RN, and her medical staff can see all aspects of client care from a central dashboard, another feature that the agency loves.
“We can look at medications, wound care, daily routines, and much more, just by logging in,” she said, “This app is not only a value-added product for our industry, but it just helps us show that we care. We want our clients to know that we’re there and we just want to know that they’re doing okay.”
For more information on United Methodist Communities HomeWorks division and the services they provide, visit www.homeworks.umcommunities.org. To learn more about Synzi healthcare technology, visit www.synzi.com, and click ‘platform’ on the home page menu.